Political Heat

Misleading statements on spending shows Walker uses deceitful calculations An ad I frequently see on my Hulu commercials involves Gov. Scott Walker making an ambitious claim that his administration increased spending on Medicaid by more than $1.2 billion. To be fair to Walker, when I'm watching any show on Hulu, it annoys me to great ends to see any kind of political advertizing, even Democratic ads that I may support. But I digress. The claim isn't anything new -- the Walker administration has been touting it for over a year , stating that any criticism due to supposed cuts to Medicaid are wholly unwarranted. However, Walker's claim here is a ruse . Rather than be truthful with the people about what really is occurring, the governor is playing games with the numbers, creating an image of himself that is inaccurate when broken down deeper. Walker's common talking point, that " Madison Math " employed by critics is working against him, may have to be replaced w...

List of Obama accomplishments prove the president is needed for a second term in office With focus being rightfully paid to the recall campaign in Wisconsin, it's difficult to remember at times that this is a presidential election year. So, the question becomes: does Barack Obama deserve a second term in office? The answer is a resounding "yes." Not only does Obama make a better candidate for a second four-year term versus Mitt Romney, but the president has proven that his record as commander in chief has been stellar. Don't believe me? Watch this ad put out by the Obama campaign and tell me different: These accomplishments can be seen at 5:10 in the video: -4.2 million jobs saved; -Taxes cut for 160 million Americans; -Wall Street reforms passed; -18 tax cuts for small businesses; -Unfair credit card fees eliminated; -Nearly half a million new manufacturing jobs; -$1 trillion in spending cuts; -Protected reproductive rights; -Stem cell research funded; -Fuel efficien...

State justice department fails to provide evidence that lifting indefinite injunction was necessary A three-judge court of appeals ruling has basically stated that there won't be voter ID requirements within the recall elections for Gov. Scott Walker or any of the four GOP senatorial candidates facing challenges. From Madison.com : The court granted a motion to expedite the appeal, but said elsewhere in its decision that there is no realistic possibility that it would issue a decision before the June 5 recall elections . And even if it did, the decision would not take effect until at least 31 days after it was issued and would be subject to appeal to the Supreme Court. Emphasis added. Besides failing to provide a rationale reason why the injunction should be lifted immediately (as well as the disenfranchisement of minority and elderly voters as a result of requiring ID's to vote), there is yet another reason to consider disallowing recently passed voter ID rules from being enf...

Job losses prove it's NOT working in Walker's Wisconsin Wisconsin has lost tens of thousands of jobs over the past year. We're the worst state in the nation, outdistancing our closest rivals to that feat by leaps and bounds.

Two open letters sent out today demonstrate positive character traits of Democratic recall candidates Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett wrote an open letter to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin today, urging party unification following the primary outcome on May 8 , no matter who the winner might be. In what Barrett described was "uncharted territory," he urged DPW Chairman Mike Tate to "convene a Unity Committee between now and the May 8th primary that is comprised of representatives" of each candidate within the Democratic primary field. Those representatives would be charged the duty of devising a plan to transition from a spirit of competitiveness to one of backing the winner of the primary, who will go on to face Gov. Scott Walker in the general recall election. "Voters throughout Wisconsin are tired of the Walker Administration's drive to divide us in order to push an ideological agenda from out-of-state interests," Barrett wrote. "They lo...

Our state's losses are many times worse off than other states that lost jobs...combined According to a chart from the Bureau of Labor statistics, there were four states total that lost jobs from March of 2011 to March of 2012. Those states are Mississippi (-3,500), Montana (-1,400), Rhode Island (-2,200), and Wisconsin (-23,900). Notice the significant drop that is Wisconsin. Our total job losses are worse off than the next highest loser in jobs by almost sevenfold. As if that weren't bad enough, our job losses are worse than the other three states' losses combined... more than three times over . And just as a side thought, Illinois, whom Gov. Scott Walker criticizes constantly? Their state saw job GAINS of more than 31,000 jobs during that same time period. How is this working , by any sane definition of the word?

Werwie unfairly scapegoats Milwaukee, Janesville, and Kenosha schools On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Instruction released numbers detailing how cuts to education this year resulted in losses in staffing within schools across the state (PDF). Overall, more than 2,300 jobs were cut in 73 percent of districts across Wisconsin. Of these cuts, 60 percent (or about 1,446) were teachers. In the end, the teacher/student ratio reached the highest level it's been at in nine years. Perhaps in anticipation of such dreadful news, the Walker administration was ready with their excuse rationale for the dismal numbers. Cullen Werwie, Gov. Scott Walker's spokesman, placed the blame on three districts in particular : Kenosha, Janesville, and Milwaukee. Gov. Scott Walker's spokesman Cullen Werwie had a different take on the numbers. He highlighted that 43 percent of the staff cuts came in Milwaukee, Janesville and Kenosha, which account for 13 percent of the state's student p...

Less than two months to recall, Walker's jobs performance goes deeper into the red The Department of Workforce Development announced Wisconsin's job numbers for the month of March yesterday, and it appears as though the "Scott Walker Slump" has returned (if it ever left at all). After two months of pseudo-job gains (improvements that were due largely to "seasonal adjustments" ), March saw losses of 4,500 jobs total, more than 95 percent of which came from the private sector. The losses come just two months before the governor's scheduled recall election. Having originally pledged to improve Wisconsin's economic climate, boasting that he would create 250,000 jobs in his first four years of office, Walker has instead taken our state in the opposite direction, making his pledge seem more and more like a fantasy. Since Walker assumed office, Wisconsin has lost more than 10,000 jobs total. But while Wisconsin continues to plummet, the rest of the nation ...

Gov. Walker signs law that eliminates incentives to pay workers fairly How does one legitimately justify ending equal pay for women? In signing the repeal of the state's Equal Pay Act , Gov. Scott Walker has thrust Wisconsin into membership within a small club, becoming one of only a handful of states without gender equality protections. Yes, federal protections continue to exist. But these protections barely do anything to deter companies from unfairly shorting their female workers. Women in Wisconsin can now only sue for back-pay, making it worthwhile for businesses to try and get away with paying women less. At best (at least for these companies), they succeed; at worst, they're forced to compensate their workers for income they'd have paid anyway, were they to treat women fairly. Punitive damages -- which were removed through the repeal -- create economic incentives to treat everyone fairly. Without those conditions, it's almost in a business's best interests t...

Millionaire senator votes to protect his own assets over desires of the people It comes as no surprise, but Wisconsin's Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, himself a wealthy millionaire, voted against a tax proposal that would ensure all millionaires paid a reasonable tax in this country. As it stands right now, millionaires like Johnson oftentimes only pay effective tax rates that are near or around 25 percent of their incomes -- about the same rate as what middle class Americans pay. What's more, as incomes get higher, it seems that the rich are paying less proportionally in taxes. Nearly 100,000 millionaires pay LESS than what the middle class pays as a percentage of income. And in 2009, nearly 1,500 Americans earning more than $1 million paid NO taxes on that income whatsoever . The Buffett rule would have changed that, requiring millionaires ( who comprise about 0.3 percent of the U.S. population ) to pay an effective tax rate of 30 percent. The notion that the rich should pay ...

The Milwaukee Mayor will garner the largest coalition of voters to remove Gov. Scott Walker from office In the campaign to remove Gov. Scott Walker from office, many factors have to be considered. Can the nominee actually win in a recall contest? Does the candidate have the ability to unify a coalition of Wisconsinites that range in political persuasion, from fiery liberals to temperamental moderates? Lastly, will that candidate represent the people in the positive progressive vision that our state's leaders of the past have exemplified? Each Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Walker has different strengths and weaknesses. On all three questions, the candidates certainly have varying degrees of qualifications that make them all strong potential opponents to the governor. However, the most well-rounded candidate to take on Gov. Walker is clear: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Known for his cool demeanor and centrist appeal, Barrett may not be the movement's first choice to take...

Embattled governor tries to convert his greatest weakness into strength Gov. Scott Walker is heading into the recall election swinging. Interestingly enough, he's doing so going down a path no one would ever expect him taking: touting his performance on creating jobs . In the new ad, Walker touts the fact that Wisconsin has added more than 17,000 private sector jobs in the first two months of this year. While it's true that jobs grew earlier this year, the gains came after a dismal 2011 -- as it is, the gains don't even make up for the losses we had. Upon review of the mess that we've witnessed under Walker, one has to wonder whether gains this year came simply because we couldn't lose any more jobs than we already had! In fact, from February 2011 to February 2012, Wisconsin only gained 500 private sector jobs. Not exactly the accomplishment Gov. Walker should be touting...and as a matter of fact, he doesn't, a convenient omission on the part of the Walker campa...

Recall will require candidate that addresses both collective bargaining AND other issues Former U.S. Congressman Dave Obey endorsed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to take on Gov. Scott Walker in the upcoming recall later on this spring. Obey, who chaired of the the House Appropriations Committee, had harsh words for the union that recently published a web video decrying Barrett as a poor choice: "Blaming Tom Barrett for the actions in the Milwaukee budget that were forced by Gov. Walker is like blaming a surgeon who does surgery after a patient is hit by a truck," Obey told reporters. "It's just misdirected and unfair and it disserves every union member who receives that information, because they have a right to have accurate information in making up their own minds in who they’re going to support." The video erroneously references an interview with Barrett , heavily edited to make it sound as if the mayor had supported Walker's move to end bargaining rights f...

Web video wrongly pits Barrett as anti-worker A new web video that's making headlines across the state erroneously attacks Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for supporting Act 10, the bill that ended collective bargaining rights for state workers. Barrett, a Democratic candidate to take on Gov. Scott Walker in this summer's recall, is quoted as giving in to Walker's ideas about the bill, and even suggests a scenario in which the gridlock from the departure of 14 state senators last year could be broken. The sad part about this video is that it comes from a union website, a constituency that's supposedly in favor of any Democrat, even Barrett, defeating Walker. But even worse than that is that this video is taken largely out of context , and omits Barrett's criticism of the bill from the very same interview. Conjecture over political options of state senators doesn't equate endorsement of those views, and the words the video quotes seem to be simply that: observation...

Liberal voters come out to polls in droves The results from last night's spring elections demonstrate one clear reality: progressives are energized, and ready to take back the state from conservative and corporatist interests. In an election that should have drawn Republican voters more than anything else (who were taking part in the presidential nomination process), conservatives saw several losses at the local levels across the state. In our own neck of the woods, the Dane County board saw significant progressive gains , with 28 of 37 seats now held by liberals, or just over three-out-of-four board positions. Voters also rejected a Scott Walker-appointed judge, opting instead for a more progressive choice in Ellen Berz , whose legal career makes her more than qualified to wear the judicial robes. Additionally, Dane County residents overwhelmingly endorsed a non-binding referendum item that called for the restoration of collective bargaining rights for state workers. The remarkab...

Bombing at women's health clinic an example of heated rhetoric taken too far A small bomb exploded on the windowsill of a Planned Parenthood building in Grand Chute, Wisconsin , on Sunday. There were no injuries, and the building is set to reopen Tuesday. Yet the size of the bomb is unimportant: its message of terror isn't any smaller simply because it's "explosive stature" was minimal. The intent of the devise was well understood: "we know how to make these weapons, and we disagree with what you're doing here." For an organization accustomed to such violence, the message goes beyond even that frightful depiction. This isn't an innocent prank, or even a gentle reminder that people disagree with their ethics. Instead, it's a bigger reminder, one with more grim realities, that the employees of Planned Parenthood go into work with the slight possibility of being killed. Every day. Say what you will about the debate on abortion: each side prese...

Attempts by companies to require relinquishing of Facebook passwords violates fundamental American principles Should employers be allowed to ask for your Facebook password? Should they make hiring decisions based on a potential employee's preference to keep their information private? That is, should they only hire those that agree to open up their personal (and private) online lives? A new trend for many companies requires just that. Many employers are now asking that any new hires turn over their social media passwords, making their hiring contingent on whether they comply or not. In our own neck of the woods, Madison Chief of Police Noble Wray drew national attention when he announced he utilizes one-time, voluntary "peeks" at a person's Facebook information during the interview process. The practice has serious privacy concerns, to say the least. Democrats in Congress sought to nip the idea right away by offering up an amendment that would change FCC rules limit...

Illinois outpaces Wisconsin in several economic indicators We consistently hear Gov. Scott Walker or his supporters spouting off how much "worse" things are in Illinois. Things south of the border, so they say, are so horrible, so backwards, that it seemingly justifies everything Walker has done thus far in his short tenure in office. The problem with those assumptions, however, is that they're just plain wrong: economically speaking, Illinois is doing much better than the state to its north, Wisconsin, at least on issues that directly affect each states' citizens.